Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Boston Globe Change Counter

TD Bank, the fourth-largest retail bank in Massachusetts, is pulling out its coin-counting equipment for servicing following reports that the machines were short-changing customers who came in to exchange their nickels and pennies for bills.Why am I not $urpri$ed? Of course, the ATMs aren't spitting out mistakes like a casino slot machine. Hmmm.

The Penny Arcade coin counting machines have been a major-selling point for the New Jersey-based bank, featured prominently in commercials pitching the institution as a convenient option for customers. The machines are free to customers, but the bank charges noncustomers a fee.

But last week NBC’s “Today” show tested several machines and found that TD’s Penny Arcades weren’t accurate. In one case, the bank’s machine gave $43 less than the change deposited.

TD officials said they were disappointed by the “Today” show’s experience.

“All of our coin-counting machines are in the process of being taken out of service and will be evaluated and retested,” TD said in a statement.

The bank said it does clean and test the machines twice daily. TD plans to bring the machines back when they meet the bank’s performance requirements.

TD has nearly 150 branches in Massachusetts.

This isn’t the first time the bank has faced questions over its coin-counting machines.Oh?

In 2012, the bank fought an effort by Ocean County, N.J., inspectors to check the machines for accuracy, arguing that county officials couldn’t regulate a federal bank. The bank declined to discuss the outcome of the case.Meaning they $orta knew.

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